Mobile operators are beginning to use wireless networks such as wireless local area networks based on the IEEE standard 802.11 or Wi-Fi networks to offload traffic from radio access networks (RAN) or mobile networks such as, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), cdma2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE Advanced (e.g. 2G/3G/4G and beyond). Most of the current Wi-Fi deployments are totally separate from mobile networks, and are regarded as non-integrated. The usage of Wi-Fi is mainly driven due to the free and wide unlicensed spectrum and the increased availability of Wi-Fi technologies in UEs. In addition, the end user is more proficient at using Wi-Fi, for example, at their homes and offices.
UE as described herein may comprise or represent any device used for wireless communications. Examples of user equipment that may be used in certain embodiments of the described wireless and mobile networks are wireless devices such as mobile phones, mobile terminals, terminals, stations (e.g. in the IEEE 802.11 standard a UE may be a station (STA)), smart phones, portable computing devices such as lap tops, handheld devices, tablets, net books, computers, personal digital assistants, machine-to-machine devices such as sensors or meters (e.g. wireless devices in which there is no end user associated with the device), and other wireless communication devices that may connect to wireless and/or mobile networks.
The different business segments for Wi-Fi regarding integration possibilities can be divided into mobile operator hosted/controlled vs. 3rd party hosted/controlled Wi-Fi access points. A 3rd party is considered to be anything else other than the mobile operator, 3rd party APs are typically not totally “trusted” by the mobile operator. A 3rd party could be, for example, a Wi-Fi operator or even an end-user. In both segments there exist public/hotspot, enterprise and residential deployments.
There are various types of Wi-Fi integration to mobile networks, for simplicity, the notation of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) networks using System Architecture Evolution (SAE)/LTE nodes are described herein by way of example only. However, it is to be appreciated that similar or like network entities or nodes may be used in any other mobile network, for example, 2G/3G/4G and beyond mobile networks such as GSM, WCDMA, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Enhanced-UTRAN, LTE, and LTE-Advanced.
Wi-Fi integration towards the mobile core network (also known as cellular core network) is emerging as a good way to improve the end user experience further between the cellular and Wi-Fi accesses of each operator. These solutions consist mainly of the components: common authentication between 3GPP and Wi-Fi, and integration of Wi-Fi user plane traffic to the mobile core network. The common authentication is based on automatic SIM-based authentication in both access types. The Wi-Fi user plane integration provides the mobile operator the opportunity to provide the same services, like parental control and subscription based payment methods, for the end users when connected both via 3GPP and via Wi-Fi. Different solutions are specified in standardized in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.402, and may include overlay solutions (S2b, S2c) and integrated solutions (S2a), which are currently being further developed (S2a, S2b, S2c indicating the 3GPP interface/reference point name towards the packet data network (PDN) Gateway (PDN-GW)).
FIG. 1a illustrates a simplified network architecture for a communications system 100 including a telecommunications network 101 (also known as a mobile or cellular network), where the telecommunication network 101 (represented by the round-dotted line area) includes a RAN 102 and core network 103 parts. The core network part 103 is represented by the square-dotted line area and the RAN 102 is represented by the dashed-dot line area. The communications system 100 also includes a WLAN 104 and further IP networks 118 (e.g. the Internet or any other network). The wireless network 104 is represented by the dashed line area. The telecommunications network 101, IP networks 118 and WLAN 104 are connected together via various communication paths and are in communication with each other. In this example, the telecommunication network 101 is illustrated as being integrated with WLAN 104.
In this example, the telecommunication network 101 is an LTE based network and the RAN 102 includes an eNodeB 108 that is connected via the S1-interfaces (e.g. S1-MME and S1-U) to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 115 and a Serving Gateway (SGW) 116, respectively, of the core network part 103. The core network part 103 also includes, among other network nodes and elements, a Home Subscriber Server 121 (HSS) and Proxy-Call Session Control function (P-CSCF, not shown). The eNodeB 108 serves or supports network cell 106 indicated by the dashed-double-dot line area. The WLAN 104 in this example is a Wi-Fi access network (AN) that is connected to the PDN-GW 117 of core network part 103 via an S2a interface and to the 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Server 119 via the STa interface. The WLAN 104 includes a wireless access point (AP) 112, which is a Wi-Fi AP. The wireless AP 112 is connected to a wireless access controller (AC) 113, which in this example is a Wi-Fi AC. The wireless AC 113 may connect the WLAN 104 to further IP Networks (e.g. the Internet) directly or via PDN GW 117 via core network part 103.
The network cell 106 and the WLAN 104 include a UE 110, which includes radio access technology (RAT) for communicating with the eNodeB 108, which supports or serves the UE 110. As shown, the UE 110 is in communication with the eNodeB 108 of RAN 102 and may also include suitable RAT for communicating with WLAN 104 via wireless AP 112. As the telecommunication network 101 is integrated with the WLAN 104 (e.g. via the S2a link between PDN-GW 117 and wireless AC 113), the wireless AC 113 communicates with the 3GPP AAA Server 119 for use in authorizing the UE 110 in accessing both the WLAN 104 and in accessing the telecommunication network 101 via the WLAN 104. If the telecommunication network 101 was not integrated with the WLAN (e.g. no S2a link), then the wireless AC can still communicate with the 3GPP AAA Server 119 for use in authorizing the UE 110 in accessing the WLAN 104.
Although the above describes one deployment option, it is to be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that there are multiple deployment options for integrating a mobile network with a wireless network. Some examples may include: connecting the wireless AC 113 to a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) (not shown) to connect the wireless network 104 to the further IP networks 118 and PDN GW 117; collocating the wireless AP 112 with a Residential Gateway (RG), deploying the wireless AP 112 and wireless AC 113 without a BNG as in the example above; or even deploying the wireless AP 112 with an RG and a BNG but without an wireless AC 113. In addition, it is to be appreciated that there are multiple options for terminating/connecting the S2a interface. Some further examples include, connecting the S2a interface between a wireless AP 112/RG and PDN GW 117; between wireless AC 113 and PDN GW 117 (as shown in the FIG. 1a example); between BNG and PDN GW 117; or between a dedicated Trusted wireless local area network (WLAN) Access Gateway (TVVAG) and PDN GW 117.
FIG. 1b illustrates the possible WLAN access messages when a UE 110 initiates or connects to the WLAN 104 based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. The UE 110 associates with wireless AP 112 to obtain WLAN 104 services in which association is the process by which a UE joins the WLAN 104. The UE 110 initiates the association process, and the wireless AP 112 may choose to grant or deny access based on the contents of an association request. If UE 110 moves between basic service areas within a single extended service area, it must evaluate signal strength and perhaps switch from wireless AP 112 to another wireless AP (not shown). Authentication is a necessary prerequisite to association because only authenticated users may be authorized to use the WLAN 104.
FIG. 1c illustrates the possible WLAN access messages for UE 110 connecting to WLAN 104 via wireless AP 112 and AC 113 when Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) signalling is used to authenticate the UE 110 towards the WLAN 104. The UE 110 uses IMSI or some other certificate to identify itself towards the WLAN 104. Note that the IEEE 802.11 Authentication Response only opens limited ports to allow the EAP Authentication to proceed. The IEEE 802.11 Layer 2 Association Response only provides a “pending association” and full association is granted upon successful completion of EAP Authentication. When the UE 110 accesses the WLAN 104 it can be authenticated using, for example, EAP-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)/EAP-Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA)/EAP-AKA Prime (AKA′) protocols. The UE 110 can in these cases be identified by either the full authentication Network Access Identifier (NAI) or by the fast re-authentication NAI. The full authentication NAI contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the UE 110 and the fast re-authentication NAI is similar to the temporary identities used in LTE access and are called as fast re-authentication identity or pseudonym.
As discussed above, different standards organizations have started to recognize the need for an enhanced user experience for Wi-Fi access, which is being driven by 3GPP operators. An example of this is the Wi-Fi Alliance with the Hot-Spot 2.0 (HS2.0) initiative, now officially called PassPoint. HS2.0 is primarily geared toward Wi-Fi networks. HS2.0 builds on IEEE 802.11u, and adds requirements on authentication mechanisms and auto-provisioning support. 3GPP operators are trying to introduce additional traffic steering capabilities, leveraging HS2.0 802.11u mechanisms. HS 2.0 uses the Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) as part of the WLAN discovery and selection function. This provides a mechanism for UEs (and legacy UEs) to request different information from wireless APs to allow the UE 110 to decide whether to connect to wireless AP 112, i.e. before association with wireless AP 112.
FIG. 1d illustrates a UE 110 using a Generic Advertisement Services (GAS) protocol for carrying ANQP requests during an initiation/connection to WLAN 104. The ANQP request is included in a GAS message (a GAS query frame), and allows UE 110 to query the wireless AP 112 for configuration and reachability information before association. The UE 110 transmits the ANQP query in the GAS message. For example, in FIG. 1d, the UE 110 transmits includes in the GAS request message the ANQP request, “ANQP (3GPP Cellular Network Information)”, which is a request for 3GPP Cellular Information from the WLAN 104. The wireless AP 112 may respond with a GAS response message (e.g. a GAS response frame). The ANQP-provided lists of service providers and capabilities may become extensive, the information retrieved from the GAS server (not shown) can be used by the UE 110 to decide whether it wants to connect to the wireless AP 112. The ANQP query in the GAS request can return information associated with Venue Name information, Network Authentication Type information, Roaming Consortium list, IP Address Type Availability Information, NAI Realm list, 3GPP Cellular Network information, Domain Name list, Hotspot Operator Friendly Name, Operating Class, Hotspot WAN Metrics, Hotspot Connection Capability, NAI Home Realm.
However, the above methods for UEs and legacy UEs connecting to a wireless AP 112 take action to reject/accept the access attempt only at or during the UE's Wi-Fi access/association attempt, and typically after authentication. The actions can be either to reject or accept the access attempt. In the case of access rejection, the primary issue is when to reject the UE 110 and minimize the delay in the UE 110 access attempt. Typically, it is preferable to reject the access attempt of the UE 110 early in the WLAN 104 initiation/connection process, i.e. during the initial creation of the 802.11 layer 2 association (e.g. prior to EAP authentication). However, the UE's permanent identifier (IMSI) is normally not available at this stage as the Wi-Fi MAC address of the UE is used. This applies for both full authentication and fast re-authentication (EAP-SIM/AKA/AKA′). Alternatively, rejecting the access attempt later in the process, for example after the EAP-SIM/AKA/AKA′ authentication, when the UE's IMSI is known and authenticated on the network side is possible, but UE behavior is not defined in the cases when an access attempt is rejected e.g. during or after EAP-SIM/AKA/AKA′ authentication, or even during DHCP procedure. Further issues arise, when the UE 110 lacks access to a telecommunications network 101 during the WLAN 104 access attempt, for example, the end user has shut down or disabled data access via the telecommunications network 101 (e.g. 3GPP), or the UE 110 is outside the telecommunications network 101 coverage. However, there is no way for the WLAN 104 to determine the preferences of the user/UE or even reduced capabilities (e.g. lack of data access) at the UE 110 and depending on load, may reject the access attempt of the UE 110, when other end users could instead be rejected due to their preference or capability to access a telecommunication network 101 for data services.
Therefore, there is a significant need to provide a mechanism for efficiently providing the WLAN 104 with UE information for use in rapidly determining whether to grant a UE access to the WLAN.